Dyleski guilty of killing famed TV lawyer’s wife

updated 7:53 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2006

MARTINEZ, Calif. - A jury on Monday convicted a 17-year-old boy of murder in the bludgeoning death of a prominent defense attorney’s wife.

Contra Costa County jurors deliberated four days before finding Scott Dyleski guilty of first-degree murder with special circumstances.

Dyleski, 16 at the time of the killing, was tried as an adult and faces life in prison for killing his neighbor, Pamela Vitale, wife of television legal analyst Daniel Horowitz. Vitale, 52, was found dead by Horowitz on Oct. 15 at the couple’s home in the San Francisco suburb of Lafayette.

The killer struck Vitale repeatedly with a rocklike object and carved a symbol resembling an H in her back, according to investigators.

Prosecutors said Dyleski killed her in connection with a credit card fraud scheme he was running with a friend in hopes of setting up a pot-growing operation.

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